Do The Boring Stuff to Get Ahead of The Curve

Yesterday’s rehearsal is still humming in the background of my morning.

There is a specific kind of magic in hearing a reunion set click back into place after years apart; hearing the “Songs We Made Famous” group find their groove again was the highlight of my Monday. And now it’s a busy Tuesday, but these morning journals and thoughts are proving to be the anchor needed to keep the “micro-entrepreneurial” madness from drifting off course. They are keeping me mentally on track and somewhat in focus. Speaking of which…

The Focus

• The SAMRO Catch-up: I’ve fallen behind on the less glamorous side of the music business: song registrations. I have a list of over 60 tracks that need to be logged with SAMRO. Half are done, but the remaining 30 need a final push to ensure those elusive royalties actually find their way home.
• The DeadBeats Dispatch: We are prepping the latest newsletter to keep our community updated. With our next show scheduled for 9 May, it’s about maintaining that “alternative 80s” connection with our audience.
• AntFest 53 Final Countdown: We are just days away from Friday’s showcase at Woodstock Brewery. Between technical get-togethers and managing the guest list, the focus is on ensuring the celebration lives up to the effort everyone has put in.

The Insight

I feel that as creatives, we often let the “admin of art” fall by the wayside because it feels like the antithesis of inspiration. It is easy to feel a sense of angst when looking at a mountain of paperwork or a list of unregistered tracks, but this unglamorous groundwork is what allows your work to be sustainable. My most successful earning song of the last five years, “Space in Your Car”, didn’t just happen; it required the coordination of a music video directed by Art Pereira and the follow-through of digital management.

This extends to how we support the wider community, too. I recently got an email from Jann Klose, an incredible artist I interviewed last year who is now based (mostly) in New York. Side note: Jann subscribes to my newsletter, and he regularly responds to my mails with notes and comments. You should, too. I mean, if Jann Klose is a Marshy Newsletter subscriber... right?

Anyway, Jann’s just released a genre-defying new single called “Future Trap”—a sonically rich track that fuses 80s synths with West African percussion. Jann is looking at a potential South African tour later this year or early next, and it’s a reminder that the world of music is smaller than we think.

Here’s Jann’s new track “Future Trap”.

Check out this insightful chat I had with Jann last year. Highly recommended especially for the insights around working all over the world, with different people, and lessons learned from travel.

The lesson here is that professional accountability is the fuel that keeps the creative engine running. Whether you’re a local band managing a small newsletter or an international artist like Jann co-producing every instrument on a track, the “boring” bits—the emails, the registrations, the scheduling—are what create the platform for the music to stand on. Don’t let 60 unregistered tracks or a messy inbox be the thing that stops your next project from reaching its potential. Your future self will thank you for the hours you spend in the spreadsheet today.

The Sign-off

Here’s to getting the “boring” bits done so the music can finally speak for itself. Have a productive one!

This post is part of an effort to commit to a daily ritual; An (almost) daily reflection designed as both a mental health exercise and a tool for general accountability. By spending a few minutes each morning carving out these pillars, I’m creating a personal record of where the energy goes and what’s actually keeping me busy. The goal is to build a reflection journal I can look back on to see which ideas grew and which ones fell away—while hopefully providing a few lessons and talking points for those of you navigating your own creative paths.

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Marsh

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